1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to structural design of tactile switches, and more particularly, to a five-direction switch base structure operable in five directions, namely forward, backward, leftward, rightward, and upward.
2. Description of Related Art
A commercially-available two-stage switchable microswitch structure comprises: a base; an axial cylinder slidably disposed in the base; a receiving tank with an inner wall guiding and moving the axial cylinder to thereby enable the axial cylinder to attain a first position and a second position, wherein the receiving tank has therein a first electrode, a second electrode, and a third electrode; a conductive leaf spring disposed on the axial cylinder and movable to the first position or the second position together with the axial cylinder to come into contact with the first electrode and the third electrode and come into contact with the second electrode and the third electrode; and a light-emitting diode (LED) disposed in the axial cylinder, wherein a user presses the axial cylinder to electrically connect the first electrode to the third electrode or electrically connect the second electrode to the third electrode, thereby acquiring a sense of touch pertaining to two-stage switching and enhancing ease of use by emitting light from the LED.
Another commercially-available self-luminous tactile switch essentially comprises a seat, a base, an LED, and an embedding mold terminal and is characterized in that an n-shaped bend portion is disposed at each of the ends of conducting pins of the LED, such that the conducting pins of the LED can get connected to the embedding mold terminal twice consecutively, wherein the embedding mold terminal has a switch conducting terminal and LED positive and negative poles, such that circuit conduction begins by means of a round leaf spring as soon as a contact of the switch conducting terminal comes into contact with the round leaf spring, thereby allowing the LED to form a self-contained conducting mechanism by means of the self-contained feature of the embedding mold terminal.
The two aforesaid products indicate that conventional tactile switches operate mostly by a unidirectional mechanism from which additional functions can be derived but are seldom explored with a view to developing their multiple-direction operability. However, considering the increasingly diverse functions and intricate structures of electrical apparatuses nowadays, switches operating in a single direction are going to fall short of requirements and thus will inevitably drop out of the market in the near future.